Errol Spence Jr targets a unification clash with Keith Thurman
Tuesday 8 August 2017 10:22, UK
Errol Spence Jr hopes to make a voluntary defence of his IBF welterweight title before the end of the year as he works towards a ‘dream’ unification clash with Keith Thurman.
The American ripped the IBF belt from Kell Brook with an impressive stoppage victory in May and has already set his sights on the other champions in the 147lb division.
A future encounter with Thurman, who holds the WBC and WBA belts, is the top target for Spence Jr, although he intends to stay active while he waits for the fellow US fighter to recover from elbow surgery.
"I'm definitely chasing world title fights," Spence Jr exclusively told Sky Sports. "Keith Thurman has two of them. Jeff Horn has another one. We'll see what the future holds.
Hopefully I can fight before the year is over with and then fight him later next year.
"Right now I'm trying to get a fight in before Keith Thurman, because he's supposed to be injured right now. He won't come back until early 2018 and I'm not going to wait that long.
"Hopefully I can fight before the year is over with and then fight him later next year."
Konstantin Ponomarev will face Carlos Ocampo for the right to become the IBF's mandatory challenger and Spence Jr added: "I heard two people are fighting each other either in October, November, for my mandatory spot, so I don't have a mandatory yet. I guess I'll make a voluntary."
But 'The Truth' remains determined to end his long-term pursuit of Thurman by finally securing a unification battle between two unbeaten fighters.
"Oh definitely, that's a fight I've been wanting for a long time," said Spence Jr.
"Even when I was 15 and 0, I was asking for that fight. It's a fight I've wanted for a long time and that's my dream fight right now."
